The Hogwarts Chronicles- The Summer Underground
by Ceridwyn
Summary: The trio's fourth year is over, but they've decided to stay at Hogwarts with their friends. Will this summer be as perfect as it has been going? Or will a change of plans lead everyone to question where they're loyalties remain? (based on RPG)
1. Default Chapter

I. Hermione's Few Cents to Add

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Here I am, back in the school which is so famously known throughout the magical world. The school that taught me how to be, yes, a witch. The school that gave me the most vivid memories throughout my life, short as it has been so far. I graduated from here only last summer, I know, but the time since them has seemed an eternity. And being the bookworm that I was known as during my years as a student here, I have come back. No, not to reread the thousands of books in the vast library only a few corridors away, but to write my own book. A book containing the story about what went on in this castle after the infamous Triwizard Tournament that took place here only four years ago. The story of what happened to those who even muggles know about, and of those whom the stories already written about my early years at Hogwarts have missed. I have come back here in hopes that it will help me fill in those spots of history which I, in all that has occurred, have let slip in my memory. So here I begin: the summer after my own, Harry, and Ron's fourth term at Hogwarts...


	2. Departures and Beginnings

A cooling summer breeze wafted about the castle grounds, refreshing the masses of Hogwarts students who were scattered upon the platform. The smoke from the Hogwarts Express circled above their heads, signalling the soon departure towards Kings Cross Station, towards home. It had been a long term this year, having had the Tri-wizard Tournament and the even more powerful return of Voldemort. No one could have been happier to leave. 

The whistle blew loudly and the students clambered on board, waving good-bye to Hagrid as they did so. With a second blow from the conductor, the train was off, chugging down the tracks, away from the school that the students called home for the greater part of the year and back towards their families for the summer. 

The Hogwarts Express rolled out of sight, the smoke fading into a haze of grey mist upon the horizon. Hagrid turned and began walking back to the castle. He blinked, noticing a group of students ahead of him dressed in their Hogwarts uniforms, though their robes failed to be seen. He walked towards them, shielding his eyes from the summer sun, as his heavy footsteps echoed down the now silent platform.

"What are yeh kids still doin' here?" Hagrid asked the group, a bit alarmed.

One by one, they turned and faced him, each one smiling. They all giggled at his slight confusion of the situation, trying to explain.

"My parents wanted to move to the States this summer," the perky Gryffindor student known as Mina Tomoe announced. She pointed to the rest of the group, grinning. "They're all going to stay here with me until I convince my parents to stay!"

Hagrid's expression relaxed, toning down his voice from the professor manner they so often heard during the year, to the friendly, yet still booming voice of the Hagrid they all knew and loved. 

"Well we wouldn't want ter lose yeh aroun' here, Mina!" Hagrid exclaimed. 

He chuckled, his thunderous voice filling in the empty silence that remained after the train's departure. He looked around at the faces of those in the group, all familiar yet distinct in their own way: Harry, Ron, Hermione (of course they wouldn't stay without one another), Kevin, Calipsa, and Mike, it seemed, were all at Hogwarts with Mina for the summer. He motioned for the lot to join him on his stroll back to the castle. They all nodded in agreement and began walking back, Hagrid in front with the group of friends behind him. 

The breeze blew calmly, rustling the summer green foliage on the surrounding trees, as the group came upon the castle's entrance hall and filed in, smiling and giggling, all excited about the summer ahead of them. Hagrid waited until everyone entered, then closed the towering oak door behind him, shutting out the school term behind and opening up the summer ahead.

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I remember it as if it were yesterday, especially the breeze. It seemed as if that breeze swept all our fears and anxieties from the past year away with one gust, and carried them so far that they'd never be able to come back to the castle and haunt us again. Maybe if I took Divination as seriously as I did with my other classes, I would have been more accurate in that presumption...


	3. Welcome to the Underground!

"How much further _is _this place?"

"Not far, I don't think. I heard it was near McGonagall's office."

Ron and Harry dragged their trunks behind the rest of the group, wondering where this "underground hideout" was supposed to be. They dropped their things with exhaustion as the cluster, lead by Headmaster Dumbledore, reached a maple door engraved with glimmering scarlet letters:

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Gryffindor Head of House

Master of Transfiguration

The creaking of the door filled the nearly empty castle as Dumbledore swung it open to reveal McGonagall's office. 

"Here you are students! Your very own Hogwarts summer home!"

The group stared at him, speechless. McGonagall's office?! There was no way three girls and four boys were going to spend the entire summer cooped up in the place that most students dreaded during the school year. And besides, it wasn't even underground! How were they supposed to hide from Mina's parents?

"Come on, sir, you've GOT to be kidding! We can't all fit in here for the next three months in hiding!" Mike Hernandez rebelled. He ran his hands through his vibrant blueberry hued tresses (in his usual habit) and looked around in disbelief.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled jokingly behind his half moon spectacles.

"Well I was hoping you'd enjoy this space that Professor McGonagall so graciously offered. But, if you insist, there have been other arrangements. This way, students!"

They watched him with uncertainty as he moved even further into the office, his midnight blue robe dotted with shimmering silver stars trailing behind him. He stretched out his palm and turned, facing what seemed to be nothing but flooring underneath McGonagall's desk. 

"Flipendo!"

The desk swerved to the side, making way for the milky grey slab of stone that was hovering above a gaping hole in the floor. The students peered down with questioning eyes then turned to face Dumbledore. 

"Is it safe down there, sir?" asked Hermione inquisitively.

"Well we're not going to find out standing here, are we?" chuckled Harry rhetorically. 

Without a moment's hesitation, he jumped down, disregarding the twined ladder that hung on the side of the opening. Hermione rolled her eyes, mumbling something to herself about how idiotic that move happened to be, then pulled out her wand from her side pocket.

"Lumos!"

She held her wand with one hand, illuminating the passageway, as she scurried down the ladder to the bottom. With her reassurance that everything was ok, the rest followed: Ron first, with Mike, Calipsa, Mina, and Kevin trailing after. 

They reached the bottom and gazed around, wide-eyed. The students found themselves surrounded by towering cavern walls decorated with iridescent tapestries of scarlet, gold, silver, and sapphire. Floating candles illumined even the smallest crevices, making it seem as if they were out amongst the summer sun itself. Calipsa and Mina plopped onto the matching bean bag chairs that were spread out all through the cavern while Mike and Kevin investigated the adjoining rooms. Ron grinned.

"This is great! Where's Dumbledore? We've got to thank him for this!" He began scuttling up the rope ladder to find the Headmaster before hearing a voice behind him. Startled, he caught his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder and fell backwards, landing hard on the fuzzy rug covering the cave floor. He blinked, looking up at the faces of Hermione and Dumbledore and hearing the chuckles of Harry behind them. He got up slowly, rubbing his back in pain.

"Owww..."

Hermione giggled as she helped him over to a levitating bean bag, then turned to Dumbledore. 

"This place is really great, sir. Thanks so much!"

He smiled thoughtfully.

"Thank you, Ms. Granger! We're glad to have a good group of students taking care of the castle for the summer. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off to speak with the Ministry of Magic. You know where to owl me if you need anything."

She nodded and grinned, and with a blink of an eye Dumbledore was gone.   


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We got ourselves settled in at our new summer home that day. The next few weeks were perfect. Not only were we in the place that we trusted the most, but we were there together, as friends. Mina managed to convince her parents to stay in England, but we were all having too much fun to go home. We all decided to stay at Hogwarts until the new term started, with a few visits to and from our families until then, of course. 

We spent our days running around the castle, exploring all those little nooks and crannies that we never had a chance to, or were forbidden from doing so, during the school year. We swam in the lake and took walks around the grounds. It was utopia, the place and the time we've all been dreaming of to help us get away from You-Know-Who, in both mind and body. And it stayed that way for the entire first month we were there. Never did we dream we'd be faced with fighting against one of our own...


	4. The Secrets of the Forbidden Forest

Mike slipped his arms around Calipsa's waist, breathing in the sweet smell of lilacs from her shimmering golden locks. They stood wordlessly, alone, along the lake shore, watching the crimson sun set as it slowly sank lower in the sky. Calipsa sighed.

"It's so beautiful isn't it?"

She closed her eyes, inhaling the pure, calming summer air. There weren't many times during the school term that they had the chance to be alone like this. Now that it was summer, they could spend as much time together as they wanted. She smiled to herself and raised her eyelids, catching the final rays of the sun slipping beneath the horizon. Mike pulled himself around to face her. He grinned, taking her hands in his.

"I'm off to have a fly around the pitch with the guys, want to come?"

Calipsa looked out over the lake, the wind blowing serenely through her tresses, then turned back to face Mike.

"I think I'll stay here for a little while more," she declined. "Twilight _is _my favourite time of day, you know that!"

Her crystal blue eyes twinkled with charm as she leaned over and kissed Mike softly on the lips. She smiled sweetly as he pulled away and turned, making his way towards the Quidditch pitch to meet up with Harry, Ron, and Kevin. 

Alone now, Calipsa skirted the lake's edge, her eyes cast up at the changing sky. The bright rainbow hues of the twilight firmament reflected off the lake's mirror-like surface, the small waves giving the effect that the aqua images danced upon the facade. She turned her attention to the scenery around her; the serenity and placidity of it all was so unusual it was almost eerie. 

She took another deep breath, it was so peaceful, so surreal. The final light of day was fading faster, the mottled colours above vanishing behind the azure darkness. She decided it was time to get back, maybe the girls and herself would challenge the boys to a mini game of Quidditch.

She turned from the lakeside to head back to the castle, strolling along the pathway that took her past the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She was always curious about what lived behind the solitary row of foliage that separated the Hogwarts grounds from the darkness within. She continued forward along the path, the wind humming a tune in her ear as it blew. 

_Funny,_ she thought, _it really sounds like a song..._

She smiled to herself, listening to the rustling of the breeze, entranced by the tune that came to her mind. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. Where those words she heard? She perked her ears, focusing on the gentle murmur she now heard.

_O Mater Luna, Regina Nocus..._

Calipsa raised her eyebrows, twirling around to find the source of the humming. She retraced her steps along the path, bringing her farther away from the castle and closer to the edge of the forest.

_....Adiuvo me nunc..._

The soothing melody floated with the wind, becoming more powerful with a gust and slowing down to a whisper with moments of dead air. Calipsa followed it absentmindedly until it lead her to the edge of the forest. The sky was already covered in twinkling heavenly bodies. The moon however, failed to be part of the celestial space. She pondered, thinking about her astronomy class. 

_New moon, _she thought to herself, _death of the old and rebirth of the new. _

She shuddered at the thought, finding something mysteriously ominous about it, but shrugged it off. She peered inquisitively into the brush, hoping to find the source.

"You're very smart, Calipsa. I see you're one who follows the moon cycles."

Calipsa jumped with shock. She didn't see anyone following her, and she KNEW it wasn't one of her friends. She darted around. Her jaw dropped.

Standing before her was a man dressed head to toe in midnight black. Judging from her sight, Calipsa assumed he was in his early twenties. His hair, matching the colour of his outfit, glistened despite the lack of moonlight. She rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn't seeing things.

"How did you... where did you...," Calipsa stammered.

"Forgive me, Calipsa, I didn't introduced myself. My name is Aubrey." He smirked at her, staring with his cold, blank eyes. 

"My name... how did you know it?" Somehow, it seemed to take all her strength to mutter those few words.

Aubrey frowned. "I sense there is still much to teach you."

Calipsa thought to herself: _Learn? What's there to learn?_

Thoughts of Hogwarts and her friends were nonexistent now. Her mind was filled with questions: who was this man? Was it he who was singing? And why was he here? She sensed that somehow, someway, he understood what was going on her mind.

"Jessica, please stop frolicking and come out here."

At this command, the singing began yet again, sweeter and softer than ever. 

_O mater luna, regina nocus, adiuvo me nunc..._

Calipsa's eyes darted towards a looming shadow ahead. It was coming towards her slowly, but the figure was blurred behind a flowing robe of midnight. As the silhouette of a figure approached, the sweet melody grew unusually softer until the body, along with the song, came to a halt by Aubrey's side. Calipsa blinked, and with that instant the haze lifted, revealing a woman seemingly even younger than Aubrey decked in a silk black dress beneath her robe. Her wrists were entwined with silver serpents, the eyes glowed emerald green. Her slender hands held a single black rose. Calipsa winced as she noticed the sharp, protruding thorns on the stem, puzzled why it didn't seem to hurt this girl Jessica.

Calipsa stood speechless. She didn't know why, but it took more strength than she had to even mutter a reply in Aubrey's presence. Now with the two of them standing before her, merely standing seemed almost impossible. Jessica turned to Aubrey, twirling the rose unflinchingly between her milky white fingers.

"Isn't it beautiful, Aubrey?"

Calipsa swallowed, remembering those words that she said to Mike merely minutes ago. That moment now seemed an eternity away. She glanced up at Aubrey but was unable hold the gaze for long. He scoffed.

"You've been one of my most faithful, Jessica. I don't want to think less of you with a slip-up. Are you sure she's strong enough?"

Jessica ran her fingers through her long, jet black hair. Like Aubrey, she seemed to carry her own light, despite her deathly pale skin. She twisted her hair up and held it loosely with the rose, single strands of hair cascaded gently down. She turned to face Calipsa with hauntingly empty eyes.

_Those eyes....they weren't right... they weren't... human..._

Jessica smiled, not a friendly smile, yet not a grimace. She knew what Calipsa was thinking. Calipsa wanted to run, run away from the smirks and glares from Aubrey and Jessica, but, somehow, she couldn't find the strength to budge. Jessica turned to eye Aubrey, then focused her attention back to Calipsa. 

"You want to go back? Well, that's fine." Her voice was so soothing, so melodic. But something about it was haunting, despite its beauty. She pulled the rose out, making her raven black hair elegantly tumble down her back. She held it out to Calipsa. "Take it, its the only thing we have to give you to make up for this rather inconvenient rendezvous." She smiled that chilling smile, this time bearing a set of perfect pearly whites... or were they?  
Calipsa extended her hand closer to the rose; her mind fought against it but her body somehow resisted the urge to pull back. Her eyes stared unblinking at Jessica's marble white face. Those couldn't be... fangs...

Her hand caught hold of the rose's stem; she felt her body surge with energy, as if she jumped in lake of ice cold water after a day in the sweltering sun. Her feet were moving, yes, running back to the castle, away from the taunting snigger of Aubrey and spine-chilling sneer of Jessica. She was moving, she knew, but her mind seemed to be back with the couplet. The robes, the skin, the eyes, the _fangs_... only one thing came to Calipsa's mind, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it. She was feeling weaker...

_I can make it, the castle's not far_...

...weaker...

_Just a few more..._

She dropped. The cold, hard-patted soil of the pathway met her face with a silent boom.

Aubrey and Jessica walked up behind Calipsa's unconscious body. 

"Not bad, Jessica. I must admit, I thought you couldn't pull this one off."

Jessica smirked as she silently picked up the black rose that lay inches from Calipsa's crimson-caked hand. She twisted her hair and pinned the rose in, the silky locks cascading down her back again. She took Calipsa's hand in her own, turning it palm upward. A gaping hole lay buried in Calipsa's vein where a single thorn had pricked her. The blood slowly gushed forth as Jessica and Aubrey bent to feed from the fountain of pulsating death. 

Their thirst satisified, they got up, licking their fangs with contentment. 

"Take her," Aubrey signalled Jessica, "we will bring her into the forest for her transformation. It will be safer there."

At that, Jessica slung her cloak over her back and picked up Calipsa with surprising ease. She followed Aubrey back into the Forbidden Forest, resuming her spine-tingling melody in that hauntingly soothing voice:  
_O mater luna, regina nocus, adiuvo me nunc...._

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We didn't see Calipsa for days after that sunset she was with Mike. We didn't figure it much of a big deal though, all of us were always off doing something. We guessed that her parents had come to visit and they were staying at Hogsmeade for a while. Or maybe she was off planning a surprise or something. How were we supposed to know? But we knew she'd come back. And well, she came back alright...


End file.
